Ice Age 3 Breaking the Ice
by piratebloodprincessheart
Summary: Safira, an independent but inexperienced sabretoothed tiger, joins Diego and his herd of misfits. She learns the importance of friendship, courage, love, and discovers the past that she and Diego share.
1. The New Herd

**A/N:** I loved the _Ice Age_ movies so much, i just had to write this. I see a movie, then get in the mood to write a story about it! > it happens a lot. well enjoy!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"_Safira_!" growled a dark sabre-toothed tiger. "Hurry up. Are you coming…or not?"

A smaller tiger looked around her. The snow was falling faster and the herd was moving on. She knew there was little food, but she also knew that with her pride, there wasn't much of a chance of her eating enough anyway. "No," she said, surprising the others as well as herself.

"What?" hissed the dark leader.

"I said no!" Safira repeated louder, her voice echoing around the canyon. With one last look at them, she bounded off in the other direction. _What am I doing? _She thought. _I must be crazy! At least with them I could get something to eat…I don't know how to hunt!_

Safira kept running as the sky darkened above her. _Maybe I should eat something, _she thought as her stomach made a noise. _Or at least try…_

She sniffed the air around her; there didn't appear to be many animals nearby. At least none that were alive. There was a pungent smell in the air that could only be from one already deceased. Suddenly, the snow-covered bushes shook in front of Safira and she readied herself to pounce. She clawed the ground and then leaped into the bushes.

"Ahhh!" screamed the animal she had pinned on the ground. It was a sloth.

"Ugh, so you're the thing that mammals on another continent can smell!" hissed Safira.

"Don't eat me!" cried the sloth. "Please! I have a family!"

Safira raised her paw, when out of nowhere, a brownish blur tackled the tigress. It was another sabre tooth. Safira growled and wrestled out of the sabre's grip.

"Diego, buddy, you saved me!" exclaimed the sloth, hugging the tiger. "You saved me!"

"Get off me!" Diego said.

Safira's eyes softened for a moment. "Diego?" she said.

Diego pushed the sloth off him and looked at her. "And you are…?"

"My name is Safira," she said. "I've heard stories about you. The rebel tiger. Rejecting his own herd to join another?"

"Ah, and come to follow in my footsteps, have you?"

Safira laughed. "Hardly. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way."

"Wait a minute!" cried the sloth. "I was about to be eaten, and you're just letting her go!"

"Shut up, Sid," Diego replied. He turned back around to where Safira was, but she had already began walking away. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"Anywhere," she replied. "Anywhere I want to. I'm free now. I'm not bound by other sabres."

"Well, do you know anything about hunting or tracking?"

She stopped and looked back at him. "Yeah…"

Now Diego laughed. "Right."

Safira ran at him and pounced, but felt herself being stopped by another force. She twisted around to look into the menacing eyes of a large brown, mammoth. Safira tried to swipe at him, but the mammoth's trunk held her back.

"Safira, don't attack him!" Diego shouted. "And Manny, put her down."

"What?" the tiger and the mammoth exclaimed at the same time, looking at each other and back at Diego.

"Trust me," said Diego. "Put her down."

Manny the mammoth released his grip on Safira, but let her fall to the ground. She growled up at him but didn't move. "Well, Diego?" he said. "Explain."

"Don't you have a kid to look after?" Diego replied.

"He sure does," said a possum, jumping on the mammoth's back.

"He's got three!" added another, joining the first possum.

"Well, do you want the short or the long version?" Diego asked.

"The short, please," said Manny.

"Basically, Safira wanted to leave her pride to have freedom, she saw Sid as a possible side dish, attacked him, I stopped her, and that's about where you came in."

"I wonder what the long version of that story would have consisted of," Sid said.

"Not much different," informed Diego.

"You did leave out one important thing, though," Safira said. "And that is that I don't want to be in a herd! Ever! I'm fine by myself. Please just leave me alone."

"But you're too inexperienced!" Diego argued.

"How would you know? You've known me ten minutes and you think you can decide what I can and can't do?"

Diego opened his mouth, but Safira interjected.

"No! Listen to me: I'm fine. I don't need any of you. Let me go." Safira bounded off and the others watched her go.

"I guess it's true what they say," said Sid.

"What is?" Diego said.

"If you love something, let it go."

"You know, Sid, you aren't always the sharpest icicle on the mountain…but today you're really off."

"Oh, am I? Wasn't I right about Manny and Ellie?"

"And that was your five minutes of fame. Now get out of my face."

"Touchy, touchy."

_Stupid Diego, _Safira fumed. _He thinks he can rule my life. Who does he think he is?_ She ran off, and soon came to a large patch of ice. Blinded by her anger, Safira travelled across it. The thin ice began to crack beneath her and the sabre finally came to her senses. She crouched down lower, but the sheet she was on soon broke apart and she was left floating in the middle of freezing water. Safira tried to jump off, but her hind legs did not make it to the other side. She scraped her claws against the ice, only managing to break off another piece. Safira had released her grip on it and sank in the water. Suddenly, a paw reached into the icy water and grabbed Safira's. She was pulled out, panting and coughing. Safira looked up to see Diego standing above her. "Oh," she said. "It's you."

"Uh, a 'thanks' would be nice," Diego replied in disbelief. "I just saved your life."

"I was doing fine without you."

"Sure…"

Safira shook herself off, not caring that some of the stray droplets of water hit Diego in the face. "Well, um, goodbye," she said.

"You're not still leaving, are you?"

"Yes, I am. Now if you would just – " Safira tried to move past Diego, but he blocked her. She turned the other way, but he obstructed her path again, grinning. "Move!" she exclaimed.

"Make me!" he challenged.

Safira jumped at Diego, who moved backwards. She pounced on him and he tackled her to the ground. Getting up again and straightening herself out, Safira made to go left, but ran right; Diego was close at her tail. Safira kept running and looking behind her to see Diego gaining speed. The next time she looked forward, she saw two mammoths, two possums, and a sloth.

"So," Manny said, looking at Safira. "Are you in?"

Safira thought about it for a moment. "Fine. But I can still hunt on my own, alright? No helping!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N:** Well, i hope that was good...ish :P be nice on reviews perdy please. thanks!


	2. Entwining Pasts

**A/N: **sorry this took me so long to upload! computer troubles + hectic summer nothing gets done. well here it is! the next one will be up quicker, i promise :D enjoy

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Safira!" hissed a voice in her ear. "Safira, wake up!"

The sabre tooth rolled over. Her blue eyes opened to look into the small, bright ones of the possums, Crash and Eddie. "Oh," she said, yawning. "What's up?"

"Will you play with us?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah," said Crash. "Mel's parents won't let him play with us today."

"Something about us being too dangerous…"

Safira stretched and got up. "Alright, let's go."

"It's okay, Safira," Diego said. "You don't have to play with them and set our species back a thousand years."

"And I don't need you running my life," she said. "I thought we covered this." Safira looked to the possums. "What's with Mr. Stuck-Up?"

"I don't know," Crash said. "He never has any fun. It must be pretty boring being a tiger."

"It's not boring," defended Diego. "We have claws, get to hunt, are at the top of the food chain, and eat little animals like you!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Eddie threatened.

"Okay, let's not put that to the test," said Safira. "Chase, Eddie – I'll race you to that big tree over there!"

"Yeah!"

Diego watched Safira run off, Chase and Eddie close behind her. "_Love her_," Sid whispered in his ear.

Diego growled at the sloth, who grinned broadly.

"You're gonna have to run a lot faster than that!" Safira called. "You can't catch me!"

The two possums exchanged looks and leaped onto the frosty trees on either side of the sabre-toothed tiger. Suddenly, they jumped down and landed on Safira's back. She screamed and stumbled, collapsing in the snow. Moments later, Diego and Sid came running.

"What is it?" he demanded. "What happened?"

"I fell," Safira said, while Chase and Eddie snickered to themselves.

"Just…stop playing around, alright?" Diego said sharply. "Someone could get hurt…" The tiger and the sloth left and Safira rolled her eyes. "…or see you guys."

"Okay, you two," came a female's voice. It was a mammoth and Safira assumed she was Manny's mate, Ellie. She reached her trunk over to pull Chase and Eddie off Safira. "Can you guys leave me and Safira alone for a bit?" They nodded and bounded back to the others.

"They're very adventurous," Safira commented, smiling.

"They can be a handful," the mammoth agreed. "But I heard that you can be, too."

Safira shot a look at her. "Who said that?"

"Diego."

"That one thinks he knows everything about me?"

Ellie smiled understandingly. "He can be a bit judgmental."

"And rude and arrogant and obnoxious!"

"He's only trying to protect you, Safira."

"Well, I don't need protecting. I can take care of myself. I don't want some stupid tiger watching my every move!"

"But it's his duty t – "

"His _duty_?" I shouldn't be his duty! I don't need to be looked after. I'm not a little cub anymore!"

"Maybe you should tell him that."

Safira sighed. _He just doesn't understand,_ she thought.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Safira remembered Ellie's words but was careful to avoid Diego for the rest of the day. As the sky began to darken, Safira announced that she would be trying to sleep. She found a spot and curled up, away from the light of the fire. She could still hear bits of conversation being exchanged, but tried not to think about it. Within minutes, she was fast asleep.

"This feels weird," Sid said suddenly.

"_Please _tell me you didn't eat something that's going to make a reappearance," Manny said.

"No, I mean look: it's just the three of us here. Ellie, Mel, Chase, Eddie, and Safira are all asleep. It's the old gang again. We should tell stories like the old days."

"There's nothing to tell," Diego said.

"That's the problem! Everyone's so closed around here. Let's open up a little. I'll go first. Um, today I stepped on a pinecone and I'm still trying to get the splinters out of my foot."

"Well, there's my bedtime story," Manny said. "Goodnight."

"No, Manny, it's your turn!" Diego said. He cleared his throat a little. "Well, it could be fun…"

"Yeah, Diego has the right idea," said Sid.

"Oh, alright," Manny said finally. "Today, Mel said his first word."

"Aww, how cute," Sid cooed. "What was it?"

"I don't wanna say."

"Come on Manny, old pal. You can tell us. Well, maybe not Diego… I bet it was 'Dadda'!"

"Or 'Mamma'," volunteered Diego.

"Or big, hairy, loveable caregiver."

"On second thought, I change my guess to that."

"What did he say, Manny?"

"It was…Sid," Manny said quietly.

"What?" Diego exclaimed.

"I'm his first word?" Sid said in disbelief. "I'm his first word! Ha! In your face, Diego!"

The sabre tooth growled again and stared down Sid.

"Okay, out of my face, _out of my face_!" It was quiet again and Sid sighed. "Oh, to be young again. Not a care in the world…"

"Honestly, Sid, is there much to care about in the life of a sloth?" Manny asked. "You said so yourself – you see a twig, you eat a leaf. The simple life."

'Hey, there's more to me than eating!"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you wrote poetry," Diego commented. He and Manny grinned to each other.

"Ha ha," Sid said. "Why are you so cold-hearted, D? I mean, you're always being a b – "

"Hold on," interrupted Diego. 'Did you just call me 'D'?"

"What's your earliest memory, D? What do you remember about being in your old herd?"

"Uh, n-nothing. I-it doesn't matter."

"We told you our stories," Manny said.

"Those weren't even stories.

"Let's go, Diego."

"Quit stalling."

"It's a simple story."

"Please!"

"_Fine_!" Diego growled. "It was many years ago…Soto was not leading the pride. It was my father, Dario."

"This is going to be good," Sid whispered to Manny.

"He gave me the task of watching over a young cub. Her name was Safira."

"Wait a second," thought Sid aloud. "That's Safira's name!"

"Do you want me to finish the story or not?" Diego said. "Anyway, one day, I wasn't paying attention…and she was taken from me. I should've kept an eye on her. And I hate myself every day when I think back to it. I was such an idiot. If I had just watched her like I was supposed to, she wouldn't have been taken to another pride. And she would have…" Diego became aware of the fact that all attention was on him.

"But she's safe now," Sid said.

"She's not safe now," warned Diego. "She's safe _for _now. Safira…well, she doesn't have the best of luck. She'll stumble into trouble sooner or later and I fear that…I won't be able to save her."


	3. Primal Instincts

**A/N:** hey guys! wow, it's been awhile huh...there's absolutely NO excuse for what's been going on with me, suffice to say that i've been busy :P so sorry, here's the next chapter. the one following should be up a lot quicker...i say that tentatively...enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Early the next morning, when the sun was still on the horizon, Safira got up and stretched her claws. "Where are you going?" came Diego's voice suddenly.

"Oh," she said, looking at him, "I didn't know you were up."

"I never sleep."

"Heh…creepy. Well, I'm going out to gather some food."

"That's rich – the _princess_ doing something herself."

"I'm not a princess!"

"Please. I know that in your old herd, you never did anything. You always had one of the males bring the food to you."

"That's not true! Even if they did do the hunting, I rarely got to eat. There wouldn't be enough for all of us, and the weaker ones weren't given anything, while the others got more than their fair share…I had to get out of there."

Diego stared at Safira, her tan fur glowing in the dawn's light. "I still don't believe that you can hunt."

"Sure, I don't _hunt_. I believe that hurting other animals is cruel."

"Cruel? It's fun!"

Safira smirked. "Psh, well what else do you guys do around here for _fun_?"

"Well," came Sid's voice as he wandered around to the both of them, "I'm known to find tribes of mini-sloths who worship me. Manny's not accustomed to the word 'fun'. Crash and Eddie are just kids so they're always racing and playing games. Ellie's been with them a long time, so she's just like them. And, well, Diego…he finds pleasure in other creatures' pain."

Safira smiled. "That sounds like him. What a mean tiger."

Diego shot her a look. "Oh, and now that you're n our herd, you've become a vegetarian?"

"I think that's the proper thing to do," she said. "You wouldn't be invited to a banquet then eat the host."

"He would," Manny said, entering the conversation.

"Hey, I'm not _that _savage!" argued the sabre.

"Please," Safira challenged. "You couldn't go one day without eating meat."

"Specify 'meat'."

"Nothing living!"

He growled. "I could do it."

"Great, it starts now."

"What!? I haven't even had time to stock up!"

"Oh, well, Mr. Tigey should've thought have that before." Safira grinned and walked off to find some food.

Diego growled as Sid leaned casually against him. "You two would have the meanest cubs _ever_," he noted.

"We're not having kids," Diego said, "and we never _ever _will."

"Aw, c'mon, no Sid Jr. or Little Siddy to look forward to?"

"Like I said – _never ever_!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many hours later, Diego was bothered by his grumbling stomach. "Ugh, I gotta have something meaty!" he said.

"Now, now," Sid warned, chewing on the end of a twig. "Safira said only to have things that didn't breathe, remember?"

"Listen, there's something you don't understand. If I don't have something to eat _right now_…you're gonna be the main course.

Sid gulped. "Eep. Well, then, I can't be held responsible for your actions."

"Thank you. Just…keep Safira occupied."

With that, Diego bounded off, leaving a very bewildered Sid. Moments later, Safira returned and greeted the sloth. "Hello, Sid," she said. "What did you have for lunch?"

"Oh, you know, just a couple of sticks and leaves," he replied. "The usual, healthy diet for a sloth."

Safira smiled. "Sounds good. I just had some plants, too. What about Diego?" "D-Diego who? What about him? I didn't eat him!"

"Ha ha, Sid. I mean what did _he_ eat?"

"Nothing. Er, well, nothing living. Nope."

Safira gave Sid a strange look. "Well, where is he?"

"I dunno. Probably not eating animals."

Safira growled. "He promised!" She ran off in search of the sabre-tooth, Sid following close behind. Diego was crouched down low to the ground, eyes focusing on a small creature. As Safira approached, she viewed the scene and quickened her pace. "Diego, don't you dare!" she shouted, pouncing on him.

As the two tigers collided, the animal was scared away. Diego lightly pushed Safira off him. "Why would you do that?" he questioned.

"Why did you go behind my back?" Safira shot. "I was trying to do a good thing for you. That's a nice way to show your appreciation."

"I can't do that, Safira. I'm a carnivore. I need meat to survive."

"No you don't! I don't and I'm doing just fine!"

"Hey, if eating healthy makes me as skinny and scrawny as you, then count me out!"

"First…thank you for calling me skinny. And second, you're just impossible, aren't you!?" As Sid caught up with them, she asked him, "How do you deal with him, Sid?"

"We don't," he replied. "Usually we just ignore him 'til he cools off. It could take awhile." Safira snarled in Diego's direction and walked off.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that night, Safira was kept awake by her thoughts. _I can't stay here, _she mused. _Sure, the others are fine but…Diego is too pushy. They won't miss me here. I know _he _definitely won't. I don't need a herd…_

Safira silently left the area and began a long journey alone. She had no idea where she was going or where she would end up. All she knew was that she had to get far away.

For miles, she walked, the moonlight lighting her way. As it got earlier in the morning, a harsh wind blew snow in her face. Safira looked around desperately for shelter and in the distance saw a cave. Peering in cautiously to see if it was already occupied, she entered. After wandering around for a bit, Safira noticed a bright light. She had reached the end of the cave and it appeared that it had stopped snowing.

Safira made her way to the exit, when suddenly a shadowed figure blocked her way. She turned around and found herself staring straight down a sharp spear.


End file.
